Of Pets and Masters
by Chibi Yachiru-chan
Summary: Cats can be sly bastards... But, well, they say that a pet is only as good as its master.


**Disclaimer: I don't own anything**.

**A/N: just something random that got stuck in my head. I don't **_**know**_** who I'm shipping Gokudera with here. Really.**

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Of Pets and Masters

Cats can be really sly bastards. Gokudera realized the fact when he'd had to get up and chase after Uri in the middle of his examining the Sistema CAI. It was a constant pain in the ass, the way the cat kept escaping. The trick was to sneak up on it from behind without making a sound. Not that he'd _ever_ been successful at that. But Gokudera was _as_ stubborn—if not more. This time, the little devil had escaped into the kids' room. And Lambo, being the stupid cow that he was, tried to sneak up on the cat from the front, his huge green eyes trained at it like he'd look at candy or cake. _Of course_ the cat freaked out and _of course_ it pounced and scratched his face before scampering away. Gokudera was only so lucky to enter at that exact moment and be greeted with a shower of pink grenades.

"Aho ushi," he yelled, picking up the wailing snotty bastard by the back of his jumpsuit.

"Bakadera," the stupid cow wailed. "I'll kill your bakeneko."

"It was _your_ fault, you pea brain," Gokudera glared before tossing him away and running after the cat.

It did not take the crying blob one second to retaliate as he threw everything he could find in his hair at Gokudera without thinking. Which, as usual, backfired.

"Lambo. Dame," a blur of red whizzed past Gokudera and straddled Lambo to the ground just in time as a grenade exploded.

Gokudera just had enough time to glance at the disapproving little I-Pin shaking her head at the wailing blob of snot and hair as he dashed out. _The stupid cow would've definitely killed himself with his own stupidity one of these days if it weren't for I-Pin_, he thought. _Wonder what he'd _ever_ do without her._

-x-

Cats can indeed be really sly bastards. Gokudera acknowledged the fact when he ended up in Chrome's room one of those days, chasing after the cat, only to realize it a little too late. One violet eye stared wide at him as he muttered incoherent apologies, his eyes darting around the dark room to find any traces of what he'd come after. That's when he saw the tray loaded with lunch that she'd left completely untouched.

Now, Gokudera really wasn't the kind of person to ever care who ate what. But Chrome… she was a guardian and how could she be expected to fight side by side with them if she didn't even freakin' _eat_. And all that aside, _Juudaime_ was always so worried about this woman, it was completely unfair.

Scratching his head after a little thought, Gokudera decided to act. So he picked up the tray and held it right in front of her nose. The bewildered girl looked like she'd been threatened for her life. Trying to ease out the tension, Gokudera put the tray down on her bed but he was determined not to move until he saw her eat every last bite of the food.

After much contemplation and blushing—thank god, the room was dark—Chrome picked up the Gyouza bun that I-Pin always made. And _godswear_ if Gokudera had ever been thankful of the dark 'cause he did _not_—he really did not—blush when the woman so innocently split the bun in two and offered a half to him.

Wonder who'd really taught her to do that.

-x-

Cats can be completely sly bastards. Gokudera had to grit his teeth at the fact that one time he'd landed up in the kitchen with Bianchi in the middle of her experiment with all kinds of nasty ingredients. Just his luck that he didn't faint at the very sight of her—_why did she have to wear those damned glasses all the time?!_—'cause not fainting can be fatal when the said person is looking for test subjects for her experiments with cobra skin and 32 different kinds of poisonous mushrooms.

Much cussing, clamor and chasing around followed by several minutes of yowling later, a silver haired guy, equal shades of blue and green in the face was found fainted in the next washroom. It was a miracle how he'd barely been pulled back from the verge of death.

Gokudera just hoped someday his sister would find _some_one who could be better at cooking than her—even if just slightly better.

-x-

Cats sure can be sly bastards. Gokudera sighed at the fact when the next time, he saw the cat slipping into the kitchen again. They should decidedly stop keeping _any _fish in there. After much debating, he decided to quietly—well as quietly as he could—sneak in and chase Uri out. Not that he _ever_ succeeded.

Thankfully, there was nothing poisonous being cooked right about then. Uri seemed to be busy enjoying a fish, sitting majestically on the table. The only other presence in the kitchen was Sasagawa Kyouko, humming to herself as she cut up vegetables. Vegetables Gokudera didn't particularly like. It was almost strange how she resembled Juudaime's mom so much while occupied in the kitchen.

Coming back to the task at hand, Gokudera crept around the kitchen avoiding Uri's sight. But so far as _Gokudera's_ luck went, well, it always evaded him. As soon as he pounced at the cat, it sprung off the table, letting out a satisfied meow before scampering away to another hiding spot. The clutter made Kyouko snap and turn around only to find an awkwardly sprawled Gokudera on the table subtly growling with a half-eaten fish in his mouth.

"Ara, Gokudera-kun?" Kyouko smiled. "You're hungry? Sit down, I'll get you something to eat."

Oh, it's awkward to be told to sit down properly on the chair instead of sprawling on the table when you're hungry. Thanks to the not-so-subtle growling of his stomach. He scratched the back of his head, cursing the stupid cat in his head as Kyouko brought him a tray loaded with _nutritious_ food. And vegetables Gokudera didn't particularly like. It was almost crazy how Sasagawa Kyouko resembled Juudaime's mom so much. Forget hyper-intuition… Juudaime kinda had an eye for women.

-x-

Cats can be absolute sly bastards. He was tired of the fact when after an almost sleepless night, he'd had to run all over the training facilities in a hot pursuit. He'd never really seen this part of the base before though.

When curiosity got the better of him and he'd all but forgotten about the annoying little devil, it dashed right in front of him into another room. Gokudera stumbled into what looked like a dojo and barely managed to swoop the oblivious cat in his arms as a sword almost slashed it in two.

"Ah, Gokudera?" Yamamoto said, his concentrated frown instantly dissolving into that carefree grin.

"Look where you're swinging your sword, baseball freak," Gokudera yelled as the cat made for another escape attempt.

"Sorry, sorry," he grinned, scratching the back of his head.

That grin was really something Gokudera despised. Couldn't he _ever_ be serious? But well, he didn't want to admit he was _kind of_ envious of it. Seeing the concentration on his face while he practiced with the sword… Gokudera didn't really need to worry any more about the idiot's commitment. It was almost awe inspiring. For once, his expression softened as Yamamoto offered him a hand up. He didn't need to acknowledge the respect and confidence he felt in Yamamoto's Shigure Souen Ryu. Well, whatever it was with the baseball freak… he was at least a worthy opponent when it came to Juudaime's right-hand-man.

-x-

Cats can annoyingly continue to shock you at how sly a bastard they can be. Gokudera clenched his fists at the fact when he walked in on a Haru crying by herself in a corner with the cat tightly held in her arms. It was amazing how resilient the woman could be sometimes. Always going about with that smile on her face… she'd completely concealed her feelings from everyone under that façade. After being told about the whole mafia business—it must've come as nothing less than a shock to the poor girl—this was how she coped. By crying silently in a corner when nobody was watching.

Uri purred in her arms—maybe it was the cat's own way of comforting Haru. Oh, Gokudera absolutely did not care about how closely the cat was pressed against her chest. So long as it provided _some_ comfort, he did not mind it being used as a hugging pillow.

Now, Gokudera was the most socially awkward person and he would have preferred to sneak back the very way he'd walked in. But that one little sob she failed to muffle did it for him. He sighed, kneeling down to her, no longer caring about hiding his presence. He knew his presence would be much like cold comfort she probably didn't even need right now.

But when he covered her eyes with his hand and pulled her head down to rest on his shoulder, the surprised Haru broke down in unrestrained sobs that were begging a let out.

"Aho onna," he whispered, shaking his head as he put the other arm around her.

For who knows how long, she just clung to his shirt incoherently complaining between sobs about how she missed home, how she was scared, how Tsuna-san had gone out with Kyouko-chan, how Gokudera-san was a complete idiot who bullied Lambo-kun for fun… and the list went on. Not that it made any sense. It was just hard for Gokudera to figure if she were more upset about being stuck and helpless in the uncertain future or about Tsuna-san going out with Kyouko-chan. He was just content with the fact that he'd at least lent her a shoulder to cry on.

Whatever the case… Uri had managed to slip away again while he was stuck in the half awkward position.

-x-

Cats can be such sly bastards. Gokudera swore at the fact when he found the turf-head staring at a picture of him with… who _was_ that girl?

The next moment, Gokudera was greeted with an extreme punch by an extremely red-in-the-face extreme guy. And _damn_ he could pack a nice punch when he wanted to.

"Tako-head-o," Ryouhei growled, hastily shoving the photo in a drawer. "Knock to the extreme before you come in."

"This isn't _your_ room," Gokudera pointed out coolly, glancing at the drawer. "You'd better take that photo out, lawn-head."

"You're trying to make fun of me, tako-head-o?" Ryouhei raised a fist, blushing harder. "A man should love to the extreme. There's nothing extremely wrong with that."

Gokudera would have all but sniggered if he weren't too desperate to see that photo again. Just to make sure it wasn't a certain brown-haired airhead he knew. Gokudera found himself wishing it weren't the case… to the extreme.

-x-

Cats can most annoyingly, crazily, embarrassingly be sly bastards. Gokudera was just about fed up with the fact the one time when at the dinner table, Uri evaded him like the sneaky little cat it was and embarrassed him as Lambo pointed out how his own pet did not like him.

"It's because Uri actually really likes Gokudera-kun that it tries to annoy him all the time," Tsuna said, awkwardly.

"Tsun-de-re~" Haru giggled as she scratched the cat behind the ear making it purr contentedly.

"A-Aho onna," Gokudera muttered, glaring at the cat.

"Haru is not stupid desu," she said incredulously. "Gokudera-san is tsundere desu."

"Teme…"

"Now, now, calm down," Yamamoto interrupted with his trademark grin. "Well, they say the pet is like its master."

"Haru agree desu," she giggled again.

Gokudera was sure he was just hallucinating when he saw Haru blush a light shade of red after that comment.

Yep, cats sure could be sly bastards. But that didn't make them any less likeable.

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**Thank you for reading!**

**Reviews will be much appreciated.**


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